Chapter 4: Two Babies, One Terrible Secret
For several seconds, I couldn't take my eyes off the photograph.
My mother stood outside the maternity ward, her face pale with exhaustion, one hand gripping the arm of a woman I'd never seen before. Behind them, a nurse pushed a cart carrying two newborn bassinets toward a set of double doors.
On the back, someone had written four words.
Two babies. One mother.
"Who is that woman?"" I asked.
Daniel Reed leaned closer to the photograph.
"I don't know her name yet. I found this picture in the hospital archive with your birth records.""
"Why would my mother be standing beside her?""
"That's what we need to find out.""
I turned the photograph over again, searching for another clue.
There was a small hospital stamp in the corner and a handwritten number beneath the date. Daniel compared it with the number on the birth record.
"They match," he said.
"What does that mean?""
"It means this photograph was filed with your original records. It wasn't added recently.""
I sat down slowly.
"Could the other baby have been Noah?""
Daniel studied the photograph.
"Noah was born six years ago, according to the records you know. But if this picture shows two babies from the same night, then either someone made a serious mistake or someone deliberately changed the records.""
I thought about my brother sitting on the couch that afternoon, eating chocolate while I screamed about the empty seats at my graduation.
I remembered the way my father had held him protectively against his hip.
I remembered my mother's immediate panic when I'd mentioned Daniel's name.
And I remembered Marcus's final words over the phone.
If she learns the truth about that child, she'll understand why I never let you near her.
"What if Noah isn't actually my brother?"" I whispered.
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
"I don't want you to jump to conclusions," he said.
"A photograph and a questionable record aren't enough to establish what happened.""
"But you think something happened.""
"I think someone went to considerable trouble to conceal information.""
He gathered the documents and placed them inside a folder.
"There's an archivist at the hospital who helped me recover these records. Her name is Eleanor Price. She's worked here for thirty years. If anyone can explain the discrepancy, she might.""
He called her office.
When she answered, Daniel explained that Maya Bennett was with him and that we needed to discuss the archived maternity records from the night of my birth.
The silence on the other end lasted long enough for me to hear the hum of the hospital ventilation.
Then Eleanor said, "Daniel, you need to come to my office. And don't bring anyone else into this until we speak.""
Daniel looked at me.
"She's willing to meet us.""
He ended the call and picked up his coat.
As we walked down the corridor, I noticed him glancing toward the main entrance.
"Are you expecting Marcus to show up?""
"I'm expecting him to try to control what happens next.""
"He's always been good at that.""
Daniel stopped walking.
"Maya, I need you to understand something. If he has been concealing records, that doesn't automatically mean every part of your childhood was a lie.""
I stared at him.
"How am I supposed to separate the truth from the lies when the people who raised me decided which parts I was allowed to know?""
He had no answer.
We continued to the hospital archives.
Eleanor Price was waiting behind a desk covered with labeled folders. She was in her sixties, with silver hair pulled into a tight bun and reading glasses hanging from a chain around her neck.
When she saw me, her expression changed.
"You're Maya?""
"Yes.""
She looked at Daniel, then locked the office door.
"I hoped this day would never come.""
My stomach tightened.
"You knew about me?""
Eleanor took off her glasses.
"I knew there was a discrepancy in the records. I didn't know whether you would ever discover it.""
"Then tell me what happened.""
She motioned for us to sit.
"The night you were born, your mother was admitted shortly after midnight. She was in labor, and the delivery was difficult. Another woman was admitted to the same maternity ward within an hour.""
"The woman in the photograph?""
Eleanor nodded.
"Her name was Rebecca Collins. She was twenty-two years old and had delivered a baby girl prematurely.""
"Did she know my mother?""
"Not before that night, as far as I know.""
Eleanor opened a drawer and removed an old ledger.
"Your original file contains two entries that should never have been connected. One belongs to your birth. The other concerns a temporary transfer of a newborn between hospital rooms.""
My fingers curled around the edge of the chair.
"Why would a newborn be transferred?""
"Sometimes babies were moved for medical observation. But this transfer was unusual because the accompanying documentation was incomplete.""
She turned the ledger toward us.
Two patient numbers appeared on the page, each followed by a handwritten note.
One number matched my birth record.
The other matched the photograph's reference number.
"What happened to the babies?"" I asked.
Eleanor pressed her lips together.
"I don't know for certain. The final discharge records appear to have been amended after the fact.""
Daniel leaned forward.
"Amended by whom?""
"The physician who signed the discharge orders was Dr. Peter Lawson. He retired many years ago. His original notes were never digitized.""
"Can we contact him?"" I asked.
Eleanor shook her head.
"He died three years ago.""
I stared at the ledger.
"Then we're stuck.""
"Not necessarily.""
She reached beneath the desk and produced a small envelope.
"This was attached to your mother's file. I found it during the archive transfer. It was marked for confidential delivery to the hospital administrator, but there is no record that it was ever sent.""
She handed it to Daniel.
He opened the envelope carefully.
Inside was a handwritten statement signed by Dr. Lawson.
Daniel read the first paragraph aloud.
"Following an administrative request from the Bennett family, the original maternity documentation concerning infant identification has been placed under restricted access pending resolution of a private family matter.""
He stopped.
I could hear my own heartbeat.
"Keep reading.""
His eyes moved down the page.
"The physician's note states that the family was advised not to alter any identity documents and that any discrepancies should be resolved through formal review.""
Eleanor shook her head.
"That is the last complete statement in the file. The review was never documented as completed.""
I looked at her.
"Who made the administrative request?""
She pointed to the bottom of the page.
A signature appeared beneath the statement.
*Richard Bennett.*
Marcus's father.
The man who had supposedly protected the family from scandal.
The man who had funded Daniel's education while ensuring he stayed away from me.
My grandfather had told me Richard believed the truth would destroy the family business. I'd imagined an old man protecting his reputation.
Now I wondered what else he had been protecting.
"Was Richard involved in the hospital?"" I asked.
Eleanor nodded.
"He was a major donor. His company financed the maternity wing. He had considerable influence over the hospital board.""
Daniel placed the statement on the desk.
"Influence doesn't explain why a birth record was restricted.""
"No," Eleanor agreed.
"It doesn't.""
I looked at the photograph again.
"Can we get the original records?""
"Not without a formal request and a review by the hospital's legal department," Eleanor said.
"But I can tell you that the restricted file contains a second document I have never been allowed to open.""
"Why?""
"Because the archive system identifies it as a sealed identity report.""
My stomach dropped.
"Could it tell us what happened to the babies?""
"It could.""
Daniel stood.
"Then we need to request it immediately.""
Eleanor nodded, but her expression remained troubled.
"There's one more thing you should know. Someone accessed this file three weeks ago.""
"Who?"" I asked.
"The system records the request under an administrator's credentials. The physical access log, however, shows that the file was removed from the archive room and returned several hours later.""
"Was it Marcus?""
"I can't say. The visitor entry was signed with initials only.""
She slid a photocopy across the desk.
Two letters had been written beside the date.
M.B.
Marcus Bennett.
I felt sick.
"He knew we were looking," I whispered.
Daniel gathered the papers.
"We need to leave.""
Eleanor stood abruptly.
"Wait.""
She opened another drawer and removed a small key attached to a faded blue tag.
"This belongs to a storage cabinet in the old records room. Dr. Lawson kept personal notes there. The cabinet was never included in the official inventory.""
"Why are you giving us this?"" Daniel asked.
Eleanor looked at me.
"Because I remember the night you were born.""
I stopped breathing.
"You were there?""
"I was a junior nurse. I remember your mother asking for a particular baby to be brought into her room. I remember Dr.
Lawson refusing at first. And I remember Richard Bennett arriving at the hospital before sunrise.""
She lowered her voice.
"I have spent eighteen years wondering why I was instructed never to discuss it.""
I took the key from her hand.
"What was the baby's name?""
Eleanor's face tightened.
"I don't remember the name on the bassinet. But I remember the name Richard Bennett used when he spoke to the doctor.""
She looked directly at me.
"Daniel.""
Daniel went completely still.
"That makes no sense," he said.
"I wasn't related to Richard Bennett.""
Eleanor shook her head.
"I know.""
Before I could ask another question, a loud bang sounded in the corridor.
Someone had struck the office door.
Daniel moved between me and the entrance.
A man's voice came from the other side.
"Open the door, Eleanor.""
I recognized it immediately.
Marcus.
Eleanor went pale.
He struck the door again.
"I know Maya is in there. Open it now.""
Daniel whispered, "Don't say anything.""
But Marcus wasn't finished.
"If you make me call hospital security, I'll have every one of these records sealed before morning.""
Eleanor looked at the key in my hand.
Then she stepped toward the door.
"Go," she whispered.
Daniel grabbed my arm.
We slipped through a side entrance into the old records corridor just as Eleanor unlocked the main door.
I heard Marcus's voice behind us.
"Where is she?""
Then Eleanor answered with a sentence that made me stop in my tracks.
"Your daughter has every right to know what you did.""
Marcus's response was so quiet I almost missed it.
"She's not the daughter you're worried about.""
Daniel pulled me around the corner.
We ran toward the service stairs, the key clutched inside my fist.
May you like
Because if Marcus wasn't worried about me discovering who my father was, then the secret inside that locked cabinet was far more dangerous than I'd imagined.
And somewhere behind us, my family was about to discover that I had found the key.
